March 13, 2014 - American Association of Airport
Executives (AAAE) President and CEO Todd Hauptli
today pointed to the just-released Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation
forecast for 2014-2034 as further evidence
of the need for Congress to increase the federal
cap on local airport user fees to $8.50 and to
provide additional Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) personnel to U.S. international gateway
airports.

"The forecast data released by FAA today makes
abundantly clear that domestic and international
aviation traffic growth is a reality that will
soon add hundreds of millions of people to
already crowded airports and international
arrival halls," Hauptli said.

"Airports need to plan and build now to meet
that future demand but lack the tools necessary
to do so with downward pressure on federal
spending and with the purchasing power of the
federally capped passenger facility charge
falling further and further behind the very real
needs that exist at airports across the country.
Airports can't meet the needs of tomorrow with a
financing system that was last adjusted nearly
15 years ago."

AAAE and other airport groups are calling for an
increase in the PFC cap which was last adjusted
by Congress in 2000 - to $8.50 with periodic
adjustments for inflation. The $8.50 level would
make up for the loss of purchasing power that
airports have experienced as a result of
increased construction costs.

Hauptli added that in addition to infrastructure
development, international gateway airports need
additional staffing resources from CBP to
facilitate the arrival of international
passengers and U.S. citizens returning from
abroad. According to the FAA forecast,
international traffic growth will increase at a
more rapid pace than domestic air travel,
growing by some 4 percent annually.

CBP has highlighted that international air
passenger volume increased by more than 21
percent between FY 2009 and FY 2013 with more
than 110 million international arrivals expected
in FY 2015. CBP has further noted that airport
wait times increased nearly 11 percent in FY
2013 from FY 2012, and many gateway airports are
experiencing significant delays for passenger
processing.

"Increased wait times at U.S. gateway airports caused by
a lack of available CBP staffing is a serious issue that
will continue to have a significant economic impact
given the amount of money that international travelers
spend on travel and tourism in our country," Hauptli
noted. "The failure to deploy adequate CBP resources in
the U.S. airport environment is the definition of 'penny
wise and pound foolish,' and we urge Congress and the
Administration to quickly devise a plan to put new CBP
officers at U.S. airports that are experiencing
passenger processing delays."

The forecast released today by the FAA predicts
steady traffic growth in the domestic and
international aviation activity. Domestic
enplanements are expected to grow by some 2 percent
annually during the forecast period while the
average annual rate of growth between 2014 and 2034
for international passengers to and from the United
States on U.S. and foreign flag carriers is expected
to be 4.2 percent.